Psalms 148; Psalms 149; Psalms 150; 1 Corinthians 15:29-58

1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from heaven! Praise God on the heights!

2 Praise God, all of you who are his messengers! Praise God, all of you who comprise his heavenly forces!

3 Sun and moon, praise God! All of you bright stars, praise God!

4 You highest heaven, praise God! Do the same, you waters that are above the sky!

5 Let all of these praise the LORD's name because God gave the command and they were created!

6 God set them in place always and forever. God made a law that will not be broken.

7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all you ocean depths!

8 Do the same, fire and hail, snow and smoke, stormy wind that does what God says!

9 Do the same, you mountains, every single hill, fruit trees, and every single cedar!

10 Do the same, you animals—wild or tame— you creatures that creep along and you birds that fly!

11 Do the same, you kings of the earth and every single person, you princes and every single ruler on earth!

12 Do the same, you young men—young women too!— you who are old together with you who are young!

13 Let all of these praise the LORD's name because only God's name is high over all. Only God's majesty is over earth and heaven.

14 God raised the strength of his people, the praise of all his faithful ones— that's the Israelites, the people who are close to him. Praise the LORD!

1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song; sing God's praise in the assembly of the faithful!

2 Let Israel celebrate its maker; let Zion's children rejoice in their king!

3 Let them praise God's name with dance; let them sing God's praise with the drum and lyre!

4 Because the LORD is pleased with his people, God will beautify the poor with saving help.

5 Let the faithful celebrate with glory; let them shout for joy on their beds.

6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands,

7 to get revenge against the nations and punishment on the peoples,

8 binding their rulers in chains and their officials in iron shackles,

9 achieving the justice written against them. That will be an honor for all God's faithful people. Praise the LORD!

1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise God in his fortress, the sky!

2 Praise God in his mighty acts! Praise God as suits his incredible greatness!

3 Praise God with the blast of the ram's horn! Praise God with lute and lyre!

4 Praise God with drum and dance! Praise God with strings and pipe!

5 Praise God with loud cymbals! Praise God with clashing cymbals!

6 Let every living thing praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

29 Otherwise, what are those who are getting baptized for the dead doing? If the dead aren't raised, then why are they being baptized for them?

30 And what about us? Why are we in danger all day every day?

31 Brothers and sisters, I swear by the pride I have in you in Christ Jesus our Lord, I'm facing death every day.

32 From a human point of view, what good does it do me if I fought wild animals in Ephesus? If the dead aren't raised, let's eat and drink because tomorrow we'll die.

33 Don't be deceived, bad company corrupts good character.

34 Sober up by acting like you should and don't sin. Some of you are ignorant about God—I say this because you should be ashamed of yourselves!

35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?"

36 Look, fool! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn't come back to life unless it dies.

37 What you put in the ground doesn't have the shape that it will have, but it's a bare grain of wheat or some other seed.

38 God gives it the sort of shape that he chooses, and he gives each of the seeds its own shape.

39 All flesh isn't alike. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind of flesh, birds have another kind of flesh, and fish have another kind.

40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The heavenly bodies have one kind of glory, and the earthly bodies have another kind of glory.

41 The sun has one kind of glory, the moon has another kind of glory, and the stars have another kind of glory (but one star is different from another star in its glory).

42 It's the same with the resurrection of the dead: a rotting body is put into the ground, but what is raised won't ever decay.

43 It's degraded when it's put into the ground, but it's raised in glory. It's weak when it's put into the ground, but it's raised in power.

44 It's a physical body when it's put into the ground, but it's raised as a spiritual body. If there's a physical body, there's also a spiritual body.

45 So it is also written, The first human, Adam, became a living person, and the last Adam became a spirit that gives life.

46 But the physical body comes first, not the spiritual one—the spiritual body comes afterward.

47 The first human was from the earth made from dust; the second human is from heaven.

48 The nature of the person made of dust is shared by people who are made of dust, and the nature of the heavenly person is shared by heavenly people.

49 We will look like the heavenly person in the same way as we have looked like the person made from dust.

50 This is what I'm saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood can't inherit God's kingdom. Something that rots can't inherit something that doesn't decay.

51 Listen, I'm telling you a secret: All of us won't die, but we will all be changed—

52 in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet. The trumpet will blast, and the dead will be raised with bodies that won't decay, and we will be changed.

53 It's necessary for this rotting body to be clothed with what can't decay, and for the body that is dying to be clothed in what can't die.

54 And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can't decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can't die, then this statement in scripture will happen: Death has been swallowed up by a victory.

55 Where is your victory, Death? Where is your sting, Death?

56 (Death's sting is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.)

57 Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

58 As a result of all this, my loved brothers and sisters, you must stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord as always, because you know that your labor isn't going to be for nothing in the Lord.